The Business n Real Estate Blog

Archive for May, 2010

Catherine Austin Fitts talks about it in 2004. As President of Solari, Inc., Catherine is currently spearheading the Solari Circles Campaign to help make healthy local living economies the best investment worldwide. Catherine previously served as Managing Director and Member of the Board of Directors of the Wall Street investment bank, Dillon, Read & Co., Inc. She also served as Assistant Secretary of Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner at HUD in the first Bush Administration, and was the President and Founder of Hamilton Securities Group, Inc., a broker-dealer/investment bank and software developer that successfully completed billion of transactions and 0 billion of portfolio strategy prototyping the solari model. Catherine has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from The Wharton School, and studied Chinese at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Catherine serves on the advisory board of Sanders Research Associates in London, and publishes the column Mapping the Real Deal in Scoop Media in New Zealand. www.financialsense.com www.scoop.co.nz

A reverse mortgage is an efficient way to create income for seniors who are no longer in the work force. Anyone who is 62 or older and owns a home can qualify for a reverse mortgage through the federal government. Reverse mortgages are not government subsidized handouts for people who are financially challenged. They are a savvy way for seniors to add some cushion to their existing retirement savings in case of unexpected financial hardships.

Benefit From the Equity That is Already Earned

The amount that a senior can borrow is based on the amount of equity in their home. Borrowing against existing home equity is a great way for seniors to benefit from years of investment in their home. A reverse mortgage is often used to refinance an existing mortgage and eliminate monthly mortgage payments. This aspect of reverse mortgages makes these products particularly popular to seniors who are living on a limited budget.

Supplementing Retirement Income

The payout from a reverse mortgage can happen over a series of years. It is not necessary to receive funds in one lump sum. The loan can be controlled through judicious payment requests. When someone establishes a reverse mortgage, the funds are allocated to the recipient on an as-needed basis. That means that the reverse mortgage can be used as a sort of savings account that provides protection in the case of an unexpected financial problem, such as medical bills. The reverse mortgage payment could also be used to fund annual vacations or other leisure activities to enhance the final years of a senior’s life.

How a Reverse Mortgage Works

The reverse mortgage process involves an assessment of the property’s value and the investment that the borrower has already made in the property. The borrower must maintain ownership of the property for the reverse mortgage to remain in effect. The borrower is also responsible for property taxes and insurance, and maintaining the habitability of the property. If those requirements are met, the reverse mortgage loan amount will be established by the bank. The borrower can choose to collect from the reverse mortgage at any time. When a payment is requested, the amount that is paid out is added to the eventual repayment amount of the loan.

How to Repay the Loan

Borrowers do not need to repay reverse mortgages as long as they continue to live in their home. Once the last surviving borrower dies, the loan becomes due. Also, if all of the borrowers live outside the home for more than twelve months, the loan will become due. Once the loan comes due, the owners of the property must repay the loan. This can be done with cash, by refinancing the loan or by selling the home. One of the benefits of a reverse mortgage is that it is totally non-recourse. This means that the borrowers and their heirs can never owe more than the home is worth.

Looking to find the best deal on reverse mortgages, then visit www.reverse123.com to find the best advice on senior equity.

As the global economy becomes more uncertain, entrepreneurs and CEOs are evaluating their fundraising strategies as traditional institutional lenders and government grants are become less available. For solid companies with profits there is a strong possibility of going public.

Pink Sheets aren’t very appealing to investors so these otc pink sheet companies can rarely stay in existence post public and the NASDAQ is a platform in which few can qualify so for companies seeking a rapid public offering of the pinks and the legitimacy of the NASDAQ the OTCBB (over the counter bulletin boards) is a viable option. The process can take from 3 to 6 months for a direct s1 filing and if it’s a real company getting the market maker to file the 15c211 is not that big of an issue as long as the initial audit and S1 filing went through without a hitch.

Post public operations are a completely different story and the investor relations strategy can and will make or break your ability to succeed in the public realm.

A strong investor relations campaign should contain a few central components: general corporate publicity, publicity wraps that go around each ‘C’ level executive to create the ‘expert’ label with your key staff, phone room communication to brokers to notify them on the ins and outs and what’s coming up for your company, stock alerts keeping seasoned traders up to speed with your stock position and information, press releases, keeping an eye out for and announcing the potential acquisitions and don’t forget about viral media (video, bookmarks, articles etc). One other thing is to hire a solid publicist who can get you on radio and television expert panel interview sessions as well as getting mentioned in journals and news papers.

All of the above is absolutely crucial to surviving and thriving in your post public life. One other thing, keep an eye out for solid strategic alliances who have multiple synergies that overlap with your business model. This is an important element for domestic and international growth and investor appeal.

Go Public with Reverse Merger , call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183 Expand Your Company Into China We Can Make Global Growth Happen For Your Company

With economic conditions still strained, many individuals are faced with the decision to consider debt settlement as a way to reduce their liabilities. More and more settlement companies are advertising their ability to reduce your credit card balances by 50% and are open to debt negotiation. This may sound like a great deal at first glance but is it really?

Due to the current economy, more individuals and families are becoming past due on revolving accounts than ever before. While banks once were unlikely to offer debt settlement or debt negotiation, the current market has changed that.

Consider this hypothetical scenario; ABC debt settlement company charges no upfront fees and agrees to settle your debt of $15,000 for approximately 50% of the balance. Keep in mind debt settlement companies rarely guarantee any percentage saved, the company then settles your debt for 30% of the balance owed and they have just earned a 20% commission equal to $3000.00.

For sake of argument let’s assume this company charges no upfront fees, which is also rare. The debt settlement company then proceeds to negotiate your debt for 30% of the original balance, earning the company a 20% commission or $3,000. With a little effort you can learn the skills necessary to negotiate your own debt and potentially save a significant amount of money.

As with any financial decision, debt negotiation or debt settlement should be thoroughly explored. It would be beneficial to explore all your options, selecting the one that best suits your needs. Should you opt for debt settlement, you need to determine if you would like to hire a company to work on your behalf or would like to take charge of your debt negotiation and learn the skills necessary to settle your own debts, potentially saving thousands.

With economic conditions not going to vastly improve in the near future and many banks being open to offering debt settlements or debt negotiation, should you decide to perform your own debt settlement, offer no more than 50% of the balance to start. You can always negotiate up but not down. Take the time to learn the skills to successfully settle your debt to ensure maximum savings.

To learn the skills necessary to settle your own debts while pocketing the cash you might otherwise pay a debt settlement company, visit diy-debt-settlement.com.

I was recently on a conference call with a new client and their accountant who insisted on meeting with me because he wanted to pre qualify me. After a few questions when I was setting up the call I could tell right away that this accountant was a pure amateur and was trying to look like the ‘big dog’ to his clients, being one who invites and enjoys confrontation I took on the meeting. I love negotiating and debating on topics in which I’m well versed so I knew this would be fun.

The call started with the accountant jumping in to take control of the conversation and asked me if I wouldn’t mind explaining what I am planning to do for this client. From beginning to end, this individual was completely out of his element as he’s never had direct contact with an IPO or Global strategies facilitator or someone with international legislative contacts to put to work on behalf of the client to expedite growth and revenues.

After my brief 30 second presentation there was silence on the other end of the line which typically means the opposing party cant intellectually formulate a response due to the sheer lack of experience in this field. So then I continued but instead of a presentation, I became concerned that I was getting involved in a project that had flees and I may need to step away if too many unqualified people were involved.

I proceeded to ask him the following questions that any consultant should ask of a person who claims to be an insider with your client. “How big is your accounting practice”…2000+ clients he boasts. My next question was “Wow! Great then please give me the breakdown of the inter-client base strategic partnerships you have created on behalf of this client to speed up their growth and increase their revenues?” He couldn’t respond because he didn’t know what strategic alliances were. I continued, being that this company has been trying to raise capital for over a year, with 2,000 clients obviously you have access to accredited investors, how much money have you raised and what SEC approved vehicle did you use to distribute shares for equity?” again, there was silence on the other end of the line. This was the way the entire call went which demonstrated to my client that they will obviously have to break out of that relationship for and experienced accounting firm who understands how to work with clients in expansion mode.

When you hire an accountant to do the books for your company, of course you want to make sure that they can perform the general tasks of numbers but you also need to evaluate their current client base and their track record for setting up partnerships between their clients? An accountant who doesn’t network his client base isn’t worth the fee. In this economic environment you need to choose your accounting professionals based off of strict criteria.

You don’t need a number cruncher. You need a number crunching networking executive with a strong and influential contact base to set up round table meetings, make introductions and help grow your company. Anyone with a general comprehension of tax law, book keeping and QuickBooks can be an accountant but few are able to facilitate all the additional services needed for an expanding corporation. You should pick an accounting firm based off of 10% expertise, 30% fees and 60% contacts and track record for helping expanding companies. Don’t settle for anything less.

Go Public with Reverse Merger , call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183 Expand Your Company Into China We Can Make Global Growth Happen For Your Company